Cigarette box



Dec. 14, 1965 F. L. RICE, JR 3,223,275

CIGARETTE BOX Filed Jan. 2, 1964 FIG.

INVENTOR. F.L. RICE,JR.

A T TOR/V5 Y5 United States Patent 3,223,275 CIGARETTE BOX Frederic L. Rice, Jr., Bartlesville, Okla, assignor to Phillips Petroleum Company, a corporation of Delaware Filed Jan. 2, 1964', Ser. No. 335,338 1 Claim. (Cl. 22031) This invention relates to a container. In another aspect, it relates to a box or package for cigarettes or the like.

In the art of packaging cigarettes, a move has been made in recent years by many manufacturers from the so-called soft pack to the so-called hard pack because the latter minimizes the crushing of cigarettes and has the other advantages. While a number of these hard pack cigarette boxes or packages have been proposed or used, they have not been entirely satisfactory because their designs necessitate high fabrication costs and their closures are not dependable or rugged.

Accordingly, an object of this invention is to provide an improved container. Another object is to provide an improved box or package for cigarettes or the like. A further object is to provide an improved cigarette box which can be fabricated at relatively low costs and which has a dependable rugged closure. Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description, appended claim, and accompanying drawing in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the novel box of this invention filled with cigarettes and with its closure in its open position;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the cap (and closure) of the cigarette box of FIGURE 1 as it appears when separately fabricated;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view (in partial cross section) of the cap of FIGURE 1 with the improved closure of this invention in its closed position; and

FIGURE 4 is a view like FIGURE 2 showing still another embodiment of this invention.

Referring now to the drawing, and initially to the preferred embodiment illustrated in FIGURE 1, the improved container of this invention has the general form of a fiat oblong box, comprising a tubular body formed by two oppositely disposed side wall panels 1 and two oppositely disposed edge wall panels 2 (all of these panels being rectangular with all of their vertical edges parallel), a fiat bottom or base 3 and a separate flat cap or lid 4. The base 3 and cap 4, in the embodiment shown in FIGURE 1, are separately fabricated and fit over and are glued or heat sealed to the lower and top edges of the body, respectively.

Cap 4 has a rectangular opening 6 in the top thereof to permit the Withdrawal of cigarettes from the box. This opening 6 is normally closed by a rectangular reclosable closure flap 7 which is integral at its back edge 8 with cap 4, said back edge being the axis of an integral hinge which permits flap 7 to swing upwardly to expose opening 6 and to swing downwardly to close such opening. Flap 7 is coextensive in area with opening 6, the latter extending from hinge 8 to the periphery of cap 4. Flap 7 has a depending wall coextensive in length with the peripheral edge of opening 6 and consists of a front wall 9 and two side walls 11, each of the latter having a taper which increases in width from the back edge 8 to the lower edge 12 of said front wall 9. When flap 7 is in its closed position, as shown in FIGURE 3, it overlaps the adjacent wall portion of the body of the box. The material used to fabricate cap 4 and its integral flap 7 has sufficient flexibility to permit such overlap, which can be accomplished by expanding the depending wall of flap 7 to permit such overlap each time the box is closed.

To maintain a positive closure of the cigarette box of this invention, I prefer to provide the closure with suitable releasable latch means or the likewhich can be molded into the cap. For example, as shown in FIGURE 1, flap 7 can be provided with a projection 13 extending across the whole or a portion of the outside of front wall 9 to accommodate a recess therebehind on the inside of front wall 9, and the outside of corresponding front wall 14 of cap 4 can be provided with a complementary projection 16, such that when flap 7 is in its closed position, projection 16 fits inside of the recess formed on the inside of the front wall 9 of flap 7. Alternatively, similar projection and recess latch means can be provided on one or both of the side walls of flap 7 and the depending peripheral flange of cap 4. The material (e.g., semi-rigidv plastic) used in fabricating cap 4,'with its integral flap 7, and the particular configuration of the closure latch, will be such that a positive closure is obtained when the flap is snapped shut.

Alternatively, as shown in FIGURE 4, flap 7 can be fabricated with an inner projection 17, and the corresponding wall portion 14- of the cap be provided with a recess 18 on the outside of said wall 14. When such latch is snapped shut, there will not be any significant projection beyond the periphery of the body of the container, which may be desirable some cases, for example where such a projection would be likely to be caught on the edge of a pocket, etc.

In FIGURE 2 I have illustrated the cap, with its integral flap, as it would appear when molded or otherwise fabricated. After such molding or fabrication, cap 4 is slit or otherwise cut along broken line 19, so as to separate flap 7 along its three edges from the body of the cap and permit its pivot about the inherently-formed integral hinge 8. Note that the top surface of flap 7 as it is molded is inclined with respect to the rest of the top surface of cap 4, but that when flap 7 is closed as shown in FIGURE 3 that these two top surfaces are practically in the same plane, this feature adding to the sturdiness and compactness of the box as well as its attractive appearance. In fabricat ing cap 4 with its integral flap 7, I prefer to mold this structure with the front wall 9 of the flap extending a little beyond the front wall 14 of the cap to permit the fiap, after it has been slit, to overlap a little easier over the cap wall when the box is closed, the small overhang on the bottom edge of the front wall of the flap being trimmed off when the slit is made.

In the preferred embodiment of this invention, the box is formed in three pieces: a separate molded plastic base, a separate molded plastic cap (with integral flap), and a body made from a sheet of plastic-coated paper turned about itself and glued in the form of a tube. In assembling these three pieces, the base overlaps the corresponding bottom of the body and is glued thereto before similarly gluing the cap to the top of the body. The cigarettes or other contents are preferably loaded in the container formed by the assembled body and base. Cigarettes can be encased in aluminum foil or the like before insertion in the box. The box, after it is loaded, the cap glued to the body, and the flap latched, can be protected with a conventional cellophane overwrap or other protective material, if desired. The thickness of pieces of the box can vary, a suitable thickness being 4-8 mils.

If desired, the body and base of the novel box of this invention can be made in one piece, that is they can be made integral, by vacuum forming, thermoforming, molding, or otherwise fabricating plastic material or the like. Alternatively, the base and body portion can be made from paper, plastic material, or plastic-coated paperboard. In fabricating the box, well-known means can be used to mold, emboss or otherwise affix ornamentation, lettering, etc.

The plastic materials that I prefer to use in fabricating the box of this invention are semi-rigid olefin polymers,

such as those prepared according to H-ogan et al. in US. Patent No. 2,825,721. Representative plastic materials are polyethylene, polypropylene, copolymers of ethylene and l-butene, polystyrene and the like. I prefer to make the cap out of an ethylene polymer with a density of 0.950 to 0.970 g./ cc. and make the base out of an ethylene polymer with a lower density, e.g., 0.920 to 0.945 g./cc. In Table I, set forth below, I have set forth the properties of representative plastic materials which I prefer to use in fabricating the base and cap and in coating the paper used in fabricating the body of the novel box of this inven tion.

Table I Plastic used Cap Base in coating paper body Polymer ethylene, polyethylpolyethyll-butene ene ene Property:

Density, g./cc. ASTM D 1505-571 0. 950 0. 922 0. 955 Melt index, g./10 min ASTM D 1238-52'1 0. 3 7. 8 12.0 Environmental stress cracking, hr., F. 50 ASTM D 1693-60T 250 2 Temp. strength, 20 in./min.,

p.s.i. ASTM D 412-51T 3, 800 1, 800 3, 600 Impact strength, it. lb./in.,

ASIM D 256-56 4. 16 1 Softening temp, F.,

ASTM D 1525-581 255 245 Brittleness temp, F.,

ASTM D 46-55 l80 105 100 Stiffness, p.s.i., ASTM D Various modifications and alterations of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoing discussion and accompanying drawings without departing from the scope and spirit of this invention, and

it should be understood that this invention is not to be limited unduly to that set forth herein for illustrative purposes.

I claim:

A flat oblong box for cigarettes or the like, comprising a body formed by two side wall panels and two edge wall panels, a bottom attached to the lower end of said body, a plastic cap provided with depending wall panels and having a rectangular opening in the top thereof over to one side thereof through which the contents of said box can be removed, a plastic reclosable rectangular closure flap integral at its back edge with said cap and pivotally hinged at said back edge with said cap and pivotally hinged at said back edge thereto, said closure flap having a depending front wall and two depending side walls each of which has a taper increasing in width from said back edge to the lower edge of said front wall, and being adapted to overlap the adjacent depending wall panels of said cap in order to close said opening, and releasable latch means to maintain said flap in its closed position, said latch means comprising a recess extending across at least a portion of the inside of said front wall of said flap and a complementary projection on the outside of said front wall of said cap.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,339,937 1/1944 McCoon 20641.2 3,105,591 10/1963 Ahlbor 20641 FOREIGN PATENTS 147,975 10/ 1961 Russia.

THERON E. CONDON, Primary Examiner.

GEORGE E. LOWRANCE, Examiner. 

